Brokedown Palace
by taichiyagamis
Summary: Tai's back after living with his dad for a little over two years, and he and Matt are slowly becoming friends again. Too bad things don't always go super smoothly. I'm way better at stories than descriptions tbh.


**It's been awhile since I've written just about anything- and by a while, I mean well over a year. I use to be a somewhat decent writer. Maybe not great, but I could pass. I feel like in my nearly two year break from any kind of actual writing outside of short drabbles and PWP, my writing skills have really diminished. I guess that's part of why I'm writing this fic- to try and gain some of my skills back so that my future stories will be better.**

**Needless to say though, I'm not an idiot, so hopefully my story will still turn out good and you will find it enjoyable. That's one of the most important things. Feel free to give any kind of feedback on my story, constructive criticism is always welcome because I would really like to see myself improving.**

**The story is already mapped out from beginning to end, so any major plot suggestions or advice will be appreciated, and some might be taken into consideration, but for the most part I'd like not to stray too far from my original plan.**

**First Digimon fanfic too, but I'm going to do my best to keep them in character?**

**I'm not really sure if this is considered in AU or not. To some degree it is. It takes place when the gang is around 16/17, in their junior year of high school. If you have any questions or confusions about this, feel free to ask!**

* * *

It was weird watching a city as large as Tokyo disappear in such a tiny rear view mirror. It happened gradually, of course. As the car headed down the freeway the buildings and signs got smaller, and smaller, and eventually all Tai could see in the rear view mirror was a long stretch of road behind them and an entourage of cars, heading who knows where and who really cares.

The car was sticky hot on the inside, the only relief coming from the fan that made it's best attempt to blow a little cold air into the outdated piece of crap. Skin, itchy and hot, stuck to the leather seats underneath him. Tai squirmed, sighed, and rested his head on the window. His mother, who was driving, glanced over at him, lips pressed into a thin frown. "Sorry about the air conditioner, sweetie," she said for the millionth time that day. "If I had the money to get it fixed, I would."

Tai nodded but didn't say much else on the subject. His head was full of conflicting thoughts; he knew his mother was trying to make this as easy on him as she could, and while he appreciated it, it did very little to soothe him. He had lived with his father in Tokyo since the middle of eighth grade, after his parents divorce had been finalized. That was, what, two and a half years? He had completed his first two years of high school at Takumi High, where he had made some great friends and was doing well for himself, for the most part. Well, was doing well for himself. Although it was never said aloud, Tai suspected the fact that his grades had dropped from mostly straight A's to C's and D's over the past few months may have been a contributing factor to his parents deciding it would be best for him to live with their mom again.

Sure, he was going to miss his friends. There were people he had met who he would probably never forget- and naturally, they would stay in touch. There were such things as phones. It didn't seem to soften the blow too much, though. There had been a dreadful, empty feeling in his heart when he had been saying his final farewells to the people he had become to close with. Worst part was, it hadn't gone away.

There was his dad, too. More than missing his dad, though, he felt anxious about leaving him. Worried. The man wasn't in the best of shape; he had developed a drinking habit, and truthfully it bothered him a lot more than it bothered Tai. Frankly, Tai was worried that without him there, his dad might have a few too many one night and end up stepping out in front of a train or something.

And there was the anxiety over moving back to Odaiba, naturally. He hadn't seen any of his old friends in so long- who says they're even going to remember him? Admittedly, he has lost contact with just about everyone within the first few months of moving away. He didn't mean for it to happen, it just sort of...did. His phone remained quiet, his email inbox empty. For a while he had talked to Izzy over a messaging program, but Izzy hadn't so much as logged onto the damn thing in over a year. A thought gnawed at the back of his mind like a hungry rat; what if they simply didn't like him anymore?

He suddenly felt sort of sick, and he let his eyelids drop, trying to ignore the twisted feeling in his gut and the panic and loss and worry buzzing through his brain. When his mom turned on the radio he didn't notice, and after a while he fell asleep, head rested against the passenger seat window, while the freeway turned into highway and the cars got fewer and fewer.

* * *

"Tai!"

Now, there was a voice Tai was happy to hear. Kari wrapped him in a huge hug the second he had entered the apartment, throwing her arms around him and squeezing him painfully tight, as though if she didn't wring the life out of him he was going to disappear back to Tokyo.

"Hey, Kari!" Tai's voice sounded genuinely happy for the first time in days. His mom smiled softly, while Tai returned the hug, big grin on his face. "Alright, that's enough, you're gonna suffocate me," he laughed, and Kari let go and beamed at her brother.

Although Tai had seen her only a few months ago, he couldn't believe how different she looked. She was thirteen now, and she was considerably taller than the last time he had seen her. Their mom wasn't kidding when she said Kari was growing like a weed- kid hit a major growth spurt. It occured to Tai that she was, in fact, only about two inches shorter than him. "Better quit growing kid, if you get taller than me I'm gonna cry."

She laughed at his and gave him a playful shove. "I can't help it! Mom says I get the tall from dad! She says you get your short from her!"

"Hey! I'm not short!" Like there had never been any distance at all, the two picked up their playful sibling squabbling like they had done so many times in the past. "Who are you calling short? I'm still taller than you!" "Ha, not by much! I bet I'll be towering over you in just a few months!" "Dream big, kid! You probably used up all your growth hormones and you're never gonna get any taller!" "That doesn't even make sense, Tai!"

* * *

Bags were unpacked, ironic posters of Justin Beiber and Samual L Jackson were hung up, and everything was put in it's place. Tai took a good look around his old room- this was probably the cleanest it would ever be again. Satisfied with his work he headed into the shower, turning on the water and stripping. It was cool how some things were coming back so naturally to him; he didn't have to stop and remember which faucets to turn so the shower wasn't too hot or too cold, or which drawer was the silverware drawer and which one housed dish towels and saran wrap (although his mother rearranging the living room had thrown him off a little- he must have bumped into the coffee table at like four times since he had gotten home.) He stepped into the shower, the water drowning out the sounds of the TV in the other room where his mom and his sister were seated on the couch, sharing a bowl of popcorn and weeping softly over some weird medical tv drama about a bunch of cute doctors who always die or something.

He spent a little longer in the shower than necessary, only managing to force himself out when he remembered that if he used up too much hot water, one of his neighbors who also needed to shower was gonna be pissed. Stupid shared water tank or whatever that situation was. When he stepped out of the bathroom clad in his oh so trendy sleep wear (grey sweatpants that were probably too warm for the weather but that he loved nonetheless and a baggy shirt that said nothing but the word "Radical" on it) his mother had already gone to bed and Kari was on the couch by herself, half asleep and zoned out watching some weird vampire show. Tai grinned sheepishly and crossed the hall to his room, calling out "Goodnight, Kari," before heading inside and getting ready for sleep himself. He heard her faint reply through the door and tossed his dirty clothes in the hamper, flicking off the light and collapsed on his bed. The drive back home had been a long one, and being cramped up in a tiny car for ten hours can drain a person more than one might think. It wasn't long before he fell asleep, and when he when he woke up in the middle of the night with the overwhelming sense of whereami? he simply rolled over and went back to sleep.

* * *

Yamato hated mornings with a passion even he couldn't explain. When the shrill noise of his alarm clock sounded at 6:16 that lovely Monday morning, he felt like chucking it, along with maybe a few other things, right out the window. Groaning, he swatted blindly at the alarm, trying to make it shut the hell up so he could think. Eventually a good whack got it to silence and he sluggishly sat up, yawning and running a hand through his hair.

He could hear his dad elsewhere in the house, getting ready for work. The steady plink of the coffee maker is what finally got him up out of bed and moving; he was only a few steps away from delicious caffeine. He drank coffee because coffee was cool, and he wasn't like most boys.

It only took him a few minutes to get dressed, throwing on some kind of shirt and hoodie combination and bouncing into a pair of skinny jeans that he always thought made him look sort of punk rock (although in TK's words, they made him look "sorta gay"). Once this task had been completed and he had at least made an attempt at brushing his hair he headed out down the hall and into the kitchen, pouring himself a cup of coffee and throwing a couple sugar cubes in there for good measure. No cream, though. He liked his coffee black just like his metal.

He sat at the island counter while he sipped his java jooze. His dad was bustling around the house looking for papers he insisted he had seen the night before which were highly important and if he didn't find them every terrible thing you could ever imagine would happen. His antics amused Yamato for a while, but he quickly lost interest. Once he had drank what was in his mug and put it in the sink he went to wake up TK, who had, for the most part, been living with him and his dad for the better part of the past three years (he visited his mother on vacations and during the summer.)

TK was about as joyous as Yamato was in the morning, and it took some time to get the squirt out of bed and up and moving. Once Yamato was satisfied that his brother was actually awake he grabbed his bag from his room, yelled out a "see ya I'm goin to school" to whoever happened to be listening, and headed out the door, mostly thinking about how much sand could be on the beach and how grateful he was he had left his guitar in the music room last Friday because man what a bitch that thing was to carry to school.

By the time he reached the school he was no longer walking alone- his friend and bandmate Tristen had joined him, along with Sora who just so happened to live on his way to school (they had been walking together for so many years that he honestly felt out of place on days she didn't come to school and it was just him and maybe Tristen.) The three hung out in front of the school for a while, sitting on the top of a picnic table and killing time since they still had a good ten minutes before the bell rang signaling it was time to move your ass to class. Slowly more and more people began congregating around them- Matt certainly was Mr. Popularity. He wondered if it was because of his striking good looks, mysterious demeanor, or just the fact that he was in a cool band. Either way, didn't matter. He was in the middle of mulling over guitar picks with some Sophmore he didn't really know all that well when he noticed Mimi had come over, confused look on her face. He broke off the conversation with guitar pick boy to give her a curious look.

"You look baffled."

"I think I am," Mimi told him. "I think I might be seeing things!"

"Seeing things? Like little green men and talking flowers?" Yamato laughed at the idea, but Mimi didn't seem to think it was quite so funny.

"For your information," she huffed, "I don't see little green men. Or little purple ladies, either. I am, however, pretty sure I saw a ghost!"

"A ghost?" Yamato quirked his eyebrow.

"Yeah! Well, not a real ghost. That would be scary! Ugh, I can't even imagine what ectoplasm would do to this dress! But- I'm pretty sure I saw Tai!"

Yamato was fully prepared to comment on the ectoplasm thing until Mimi finished her sentence. Then the ectoplasm thing didn't seem so important anymore. "What do you mean you saw Tai?" Tai was gone, right? He had moved, what, sometime in the middle of eighth grade. The two hadn't exactly been the closest when Tai had moved, but the fact that there had been no contact between the two friends since the day they said their goodbyes made Matt feel, well, sort of guilty.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure it was him! Looked just like him, sort of older though, he really got cute! I'm pretty sure he was heading into the school, but I sort of ended up losing sight of him! I wonder what he's doing here?"

Yamato was kind of wondering the same thing.


End file.
